Relay switch



RELAY SWITCH Filed March 29. 1924 INVENTOR ,Harold E T rent WM-cm.

' ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 25,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD E. TRENT, OF LANSIDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDVANIL- BELAY SWITCH.

Application flied March 29, 1924. Serial No. 702,744.

My invention relates to electromagnetic devices and particularly torelay switches.

One object of my invention is to provide a relay switch that shall havea minimum I number of parts.

Another object of my invention .is to rovide a relay switch or contactorthat s all have means whereby the armature and the movable contactmembers may be removed as a unit without aifecting the relative adjustment and without removing any screws or other holding members.

Another object of my invention is to provide a relay that shall have asingle meniher for pivoting, limiting and adjusting the movement of thearmature.

Another object of m invention is to provide a relay that ma edisassembled without afiecting its cali ration.

Another object of my invention is to provide an electromagnet that shallhave a single means for retaining its wind ng m osition and forprecluding chattering of its armature.

* Another object of my invention is to provide a relay having a coremember of such construction and cross section that it is adapted tooperate without heating when the relay winding is energized by eitheralternating or direct current.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rela of theabove-indicated character that shall be simple and inexpensive toconstruct and efiective and efficient in its operation.

In practicing my invention, I provide an outer magnetizable member, aninner core member having a longitudinal slot therein, a winding aroundthe core member and an armature member. A supporting member ismounted'on the outer magnetizable member for pivotally supporting thearmature, for limiting its movement and for adjusting spring therefor.Contact members are resiliently secured to the armature and are readilyremovable from the stationary portions of the relay with the armaturewithoutdisturbing the adjustment or calibration of the device.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a relay switch or contactorembodying my invention;

supporting an- Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the switch shown inFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one end of the core member shown in Fig. 3;and

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the supporting member embodied in myinvention.

My lnvention comprises, in general, a base plate 6 upon which is mountedan electromagnet 7 and a plurality of stationary terminals 8 and contactmembers 9 that cooperate with movable contact members 10 that areactuated by the electromagnet.

The electromagnet 7 comprises an outer magnetizable cup member 11 havinga narrow slot 12 therein extending from the center of its base to itsouter periphery to prevent generation therein of eddy current. An innercore member 13 having a longitudinal slot 14 therein, two lateral slots15 at the outer end and a shoulder 16 at its inner end. The shoulder 16engages an opening in the cup member 12, and a screw 1 extending throughthe base 6 and into an axial opening 14 in the core member 13 holds theentire'device together and to the base. The axial opening 14 extends towithin a relatively short distance of the outer end of the core member13 but the screw 17 only extends a part way through the core member.

A winding 18 is disposed in the cup member around the core member 13 anda shortcircuited conductor 19 is disposed in the slots 15 and over thewinding 18 to hold the winding in place and also to so lag the fluxtraversing a portion of the core member as to ensure continuous fluxtherethrough when alternating current traverses the winding 18. Thisprovides a non-chattering electromagnet under all conditions.

A supporting member 20 having two projections 21 and 22 and a knife edgeportion 23 is screwed to the cup member 11 by a screw 24. The member 20is slightly curved to conform to the surface of the cup 11 and thus isretained in position by the single 7 screw..

An armature 25 is provided with grooves or slots 26, which register withthe knife edges 23 in the member 20 to constitute a pivotal support forthe armature. The armature has an opening 27 therein through whichextends the projection 21 of the member that serves as a limiting stopfor the armature. The armature is also provided with an openin 28 in theend thereof to receive a screw-fiireaded member 29. A nut 30 having anoverhanging lip 30 is disposed on the member 29 to prevent it frompassing through the opening 28 and a spring 31 is secured to the member29 and to the projeo-- tion 22.. From the above, it will be seen thatthe member 20 serves the several functions of pivotally mounting thearmature, limiting its movement and for holding the U adjusting means.The lip 30 engages the edge of the armature to prevent the nut 30 frombeing turned inadvertently.

A bifurcated resilient member 32 carries a contact member 10 on each ofits bifur- 20 cated port-ions and its inner end passes through theopening 27 in the armature 25 and rests against the stop 21. Anon-magnetic stud 34 that is secured to the armature 25 passes throughan opening in the mem- 25 ber 32, and a spring 35 surrounds the stud 34and normally holds the member 32 in engagement with the armature 25. Thestud 34 extends throu' h the armature to provide a non-magnetic utton toengage t 1e core member 13 to prevent freezing in the closed position.

When the contact members 9 and 10 are in engagement by reason of thearmature 25 bein attracted when the winding is ener- 35 gize the sprin35 permits the member 32 device, it is only necessary to s to pivotaroun' the point 33 where it engages the stop 21 in the armature 25 anddis engages the armature at the point 36 where it normally engages it.

It will be understood from the above that the contact members 10 have arubbin mo tion before and during engagement an disengagement by reasonof the member 32 pivoting about the points 33 and 36 during itsmovement. It will further be seen that in order to disassemble themoving parts of the ip the spring 31 off the projection 22 and to iftthe unitary armature 25 and the contact-carrying member 32 from theknife edges 23. The members 25 and 32 retain their relative positionsand, consequently, the adjustment or calibration .of the device is notaltered.

In order to calibrate or adjust the device, it is only necessary to liftnut 30 and turn the same with respect to the member 29.

The slot 14 and the longitudinal opening 14 in the core member 13 areprovided to enable the same core member to be used on an alternatingcurrent as on direct current as it has been found that with suchconstruction the electroma et will operate without overheatin on 0thalternating and direct current. n electromagnetof this character hasbeen found to be highly efiicient for securing the contact-carryingmember to the armature, a single supporting member mounted on the sideof the stationary-mag netizable cup member having a projection on eachend thereof, one of the projections being adapted to be disposed in anopening 1n t e armature to limit the movement of the armature, and anadjustable spring connected between the armature and the otherprojection on the supporting member.

2. A relay comprising a stationary core member, a stationarymagnetizable casing, a winding disposed around the core member withinthe casin and a short-circuited conducting member disposed in one end ofthe core member to retain the winding in position within the casing andfor precluding the relay from chattering.

3. A relay comprising a stationary core member, a stationarymagnetizable casin a winding disposed around the core mem er within thecasing, an armature and means disposed in the outer end of the coremember to retain the winding in position within the casing and forprecluding chattering of the armature.

4. An electromagnet comprising an outer magnetizable cup member, aninner removable core member having a longitudinal slot therein, awinding disposed around the core member, an armature, and ashort-circuited conductor disposed in the outer end of the core memberand extending over the Winding.

5. A rela switch comprising a stationar magnetizabe cup-shaped member, awin ing therefor, an armature, a resilient bifurcated member havingcontact members on the bifurcated portions thereof, a stud mounted onthe armature and passing through an opening in the bifurcated member, aspring disposed around the stud for resiliently holding the bifurcatedmember and the armature together and means on the magnetizable'cup-shaped member for pivotally supporting the armature.

6. A relay switch comprising a stationary -magnetizable cup-shapedmember, a win ng therefor, an armature, a resilient bifurr.

. mounted on cated member having contact members on the bifurcatedportions thereof a stud the armature and assing through an opening inthe bifurcate memher, a s ring disposed around the stud for resilient yholding the bifurcated member and the armature together and means on themagnetizable cup-shaped member for pivotally supporting the armature andfor limiting its movement in one direction.

7. A rela comprising an outer cup member, a win ing therein, an armaturehaving a slot across one face thereof, and two open- .ings therein, asupporting member mounted projections and on the cup member and havingtwo projections thereon, and a knife edge portion for engaging the slotin the armature, a spring, an adjustable member secured to the spring,the spring being connected to one of the the other projection extendingthrough one opening in the armature, the adjusting member being disposedin the other opening in the armature.

8. An electromagnet comprising a station- 1 subscribed my name this 24thday of March, 1924.

HAROLD E. TRENT.

